Negotiations underway in officer-involved shooting
SANDPOINT — Settlement negotiations are underway in a lawsuit which seeks to obtain public records linked to a deadly officer-involved shooting at Priest Lake in 2017, according to 1st District Court records.
Counsel for Idaho State Police and Robin Andrews, the widow of Craig Albert Johnson, moved jointly twice last month to extend filing deadlines in the case in order to allow the settlement negotiations to play out. Motions for time extension were filed on March 18 and March 28, court records show.
“The parties continue to be actively engaged in settlement negotiations and additional time is needed for those negotiations to run their course,” wrote April Linscott and Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Warden, who represent Andrews and Idaho State Police, respectively.
Judge Lansing Haynes approved both filing extension requests, according to court documents.
Johnson, 50, was shot and killed outside his cabin in Coolin in Sept. 26, 2017, in a confrontation with Bonner County sheriff’s deputies. The deadly shooting was precipitated by a welfare check at the home that was requested by Andrews, who could not contact him.
Johnson allegedly pointed a gun at the deputy, prompting authorities to obtain a warrant for Johnson’s arrest which alleged aggravated assault against the deputy.
Deputies returned in force with an armored police vehicle and sharpshooters which were deployed to the woods behind the cabin, according to court documents.
State police said Johnson was shot and killed when he pointed a gun at law officers. Counsel for Andrews, however, said in court documents that Johnson was holding the gun by the barrel with the muzzle pointed toward himself when he was shot in the back by sharpshooters as he attempted to slip out of the back of the cabin.
Counsel for state police attempted to conceal public records related to the shooting by claiming that Andrews had mistakenly sought documents related to the alleged assault rather than the officer-involved shooting, which deprived the court of subject jurisdiction in the matter.
Senior District Judge Steve Verby, however, declined to dismiss the case.
Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.